Tipalti CPO Roby Baruch argues generative AI is creating a new 'Builder' role that owns problems end-to-end, reducing reliance on specialist handoffs.
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Roby Baruch, chief product and technology officer at Tipalti, argues that generative AI is reshaping how software teams operate, creating a new role he calls "the Builder."
The old model of software development required a product manager, a designer, an engineer, and a QA specialist to move a feature from concept to code. Baruch says that model is giving way to a single contributor who owns a problem end-to-end, using AI tools to cover gaps in their own expertise.
"The Builder is not a PM who codes, or an engineer who designs," he writes in a Forbes column. "They own a problem and move it toward a solution end-to-end, without needing to be elite in every discipline."
Baruch points to McKinsey data showing that more than 90% of software teams surveyed use AI in their work, saving an average of six hours per week. He also cites a 2026 MIT Sloan study of 187,000 GitHub developers that found Copilot access increased coding activity by 12.4% and reduced project management activity by 24.9%. Junior developers saw the biggest gains.
Rather than eliminating specialist roles, Baruch says the Builder model changes what those experts do. Instead of owning every task, they set standards, define frameworks, and orchestrate the AI agents that help Builders move faster. He notes that in Tipalti's December 2025 survey of finance professionals, the two most-valued AI capabilities were the ability to review AI actions (55%) and to custom-configure workflows (55%).
Hiring is already shifting, Baruch argues. Leading organizations are hiring fewer general technologists while becoming more selective, with rising demand for senior engineers, architects, and product managers who can set standards and orchestrate work across teams, vendors, and agents. Gartner projects that by 2029, at least half of knowledge workers will develop the skills to work with, govern, or create AI agents on demand.
"The Builder model changes the physics of a technology organization," Baruch writes. "One Builder, supported by agents and guided by strong horizontal experts, may carry a feature from idea to production with far less coordination than before."
Baruch acknowledges the transition is early and messy, but says the benefit is faster execution. "AI may bring back something many of us lost as our companies scaled: the feeling of actually building."
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